DeLAND, Fla. – A records clerk for the DeLand Police Department is facing criminal charges because she let her son know he was a suspect in a case the department was investigating, officials said.
Carmella Provenzano, 55, found out that her son was being accused of selling stolen firearms and showed him the investigative report pertaining to the case before police were ready to make an arrest, according to the affidavit.
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Police said records showed that Provenzano accessed the investigative report multiple times on Jan. 31.
On Monday, Provenzano asked one of the detectives to make special arrangements with her if her son was going to be arrested because she is a DeLand Police Department employee. The detective told her that charging decisions had yet not been made but when and if the time came for an arrest, special arrangements would not be made, the report said.
Provenzano was arrested Wednesday on charges of violation of public records law and obstructing an investigation.
Officials from the DeLand Police Department said Provenzano was a department employee for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2017. She was rehired in January on a contractual basis while officials worked to fill two vacant positions in the records department.
She was terminated on Tuesday after officials learned of the allegations against her.
"Provenzano made an apparent error in judgment by abusing her position. The allegations against her, if proven true, are unacceptable and will not be tolerated at the City of DeLand and DeLand Police Department," the department said in an official statement.